The classic rock guitarist Stevie Nicks always wanted to work with: “Put a band around us tomorrow”
Of all the guitarists Stevie Nicks could have been musically paired with, the gods decided that it must be Lindsey Buckingham.
It was a cruel twist of fate that the man who happened to be her musical soulmate was very nearly her romantic one. The pair began their careers as lovers and ended it as scorned ex-partners who were bound together only by the music of their toxic band, Fleetwood Mac. But despite logic telling them to distance themselves from one another, there was no denying that the music they made together was magic.
“He was the musical love of my life,” she once claimed, “And I would have really given up anything for him, because of that. It was more than just a love relationship. It was everything”.
In many ways, she did give up everything because after the release of Rumours in 1977, Nicks was a bona fide mega star. She had proven that her very individual style of songwriting was worth its weight in gold and had perhaps opened the door to a successful career without the burden of Fleetwood Mac’s volatile atmosphere.
In ‘81, she released her debut solo album, Bella Donna, to critical acclaim and had finally made that liberation a reality. But she continued going back to the band, powered by some twisted sense of loyalty to a band who had, in many ways, snatched away any of her own autonomy. When it came to Fleetwood Mac, Nicks had musical Stockholm syndrome, and the rest of the world watched as the musical opportunities around her went to waste. Just think of all the pioneering musicians Nicks could have teamed up with.
Yes, Buckingham was the musical love of her life, and together they wrote some of the most iconic songs in history, but could another love have existed in, say, Eric Clapton, Elton John or Jimmy Page? The latter forms the most curious of the three options for he was someone Nicks herself earmarked as a potential collaborator. “If Jimmy Page would play guitar with me,” remarked Stevie Nicks, “I’d put a band around us tomorrow”.
Come ‘79, when Led Zeppelin were releasing their final album In Through the Out Door, Page was in desperate need of direction. His heroin addiction was proving to be a thorn in his creative side, while Nicks, who battled demons of her own, was watching her musical soulmate Buckingham drive Fleetwood Mac into the ground with his autocratic project Tusk.
The pair were at the tipping points of their careers and could have genuinely forged something special at that moment. Arguably, the most beloved guitarist in the world could have joined forces with a truly transcendental songwriter to deliver something fresh and innovative, not just for the music industry, but for themselves.
But it remains one of the great ‘what if’ stories of music and will likely continue that way. That’s no change from Nicks in general, whose career has been one of both greatness and tragedy, seized opportunities and missed moments of genius.
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